In known go-until gaming device bonus rounds, when a player makes a selection from a set of randomly placed masked awards, the game reveals the selected outcome, which results in the player winning an award or losing the opportunity to win further awards. For example, European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 A2 filed on Mar. 18, 1999 and assigned on its face to WMS Gaming, Inc. discloses a game in which a player has one or more opportunities to select masked bonus awards from a pattern or group of masked awards. When the player selects a masked award, the player receives the value of the award. This process continues until the player selects a masked terminator, which ends the game, whereby the player keeps the previously accumulated awards. In no instance does the selection of a randomly assigned masked award yield a neutral outcome, i.e., a tie or a draw.
In “double up” video poker gaming machines, a player can risk a currently achieved award to double the player's award. In such games, the dealer deals the player and the dealer a card. If the player's card beats the dealer's card, the player obtains double the award. If the dealer's card wins, the player gets nothing. A tie results if the dealer deals out two cards having the same rank, whereafter the player can try again. In video blackjack gaming machines, the player and the dealer can also tie.
In an attempt to make gaming devices more exciting and enjoyable for a player, gaming device manufacturers strive to make games more suspenseful or generally suspense building. One method and apparatus for making games more suspenseful includes a bonus game that provides tie or draw outcomes, which does not require a player to risk a currently achieved award.